September 30th is celebrated around the world as International Translation Day. We're very fortunate that some of our wonderful translators and language reviewers shared their thoughts on translation and children's books with us on this occasion.

Praba Ram & Sheela Preuitt love stories of all sorts. Stories about children, about animals, about crafts, about travel, about science, about prehistoric life, about ancient cultures, and just about everything in our universe. As children’s authors, they find it a privilege to be able to translate works by other children’s authors and feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to do so with Pratham Books.

We love how Pratham Books goes beyond mainstream cities to include rural environments so as to make books that children in remote corners of India can identify with -- books that reach non-urban libraries, government schools, and small-town early learning centres, staying true to their mission of ‘A Book in Every Child's Hand’.

Translating children’s books involves not just taking the words from one language and putting it in another. Regional references, cultural nuances, idiosyncrasies of the language and local dialects, plus the vocabulary appropriate for the intended reading level all come into play, which makes it not only challenging but also extremely rewarding. While proficiency in both languages at a native level is a must, familiarity with the colloquial and idiomatic usage is a great plus as it helps make the work accessible to a diverse group of kids with varying backgrounds.

Emerging readers can easily be confused if the written format deviates too much from their spoken language and life experience. As translators, we strive to stay true to the original work by the author. However, where appropriate, we have also opted to strike a balance by bringing in an equivalent regional context that conveys the purpose and idea while swaying ever-so-slightly from the original presentation, primarily to engage the young readers in a meaningful way. In addition to overall stylistic and linguistic considerations of the original work, we also try to pay attention to the rhythm and flow in the translated language in order to enhance the read-aloud experience for the given reading level.

Often children's publishing in regional languages is influenced by ingrained beliefs and preconceptions prevalent in that region. Through quality books, Pratham Books has created a space for a body of literature for children that reflects the inter-connectedness of people, languages, and cultures, as well as their distinctive features, thereby breaking boundaries and providing books as a link from one region to another.

Translating a story across different languages brings varied voices together by offering a platform to celebrate cultural diversity and contemporary Indian realities and sensibilities, and we can only be delighted to partake in this meaningful linguistic movement - in fact, a grassroots one, so to speak.  

And, seeing books in English translated not just to regional Indian languages but to Russian, Norwegian, Portuguese, even Japanese and Mandarin, reiterates that stories are universal and children around the world cannot have enough of them!

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Unnati Institute for Social and Educational Change has been working in the district of Akola Akot and Telhara in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra with children from the Korku tribal community since the last five years. They work towards the improvement of literacy skills of these children. Since the Korku language does not have a script, the organisation is developing resources using the Devanagari script to ensure that the children learn to read and write Korku. These resources include storybooks, songs, curriculum-related resources and reading material. It runs a programme on ‘Enhancing Language Skills of Children from Tribal Communities’ through education support classes with the objective of facilitating improvement in tribal children’s basic reading and writing with comprehension skills in Korku, their mother tongue and Marathi, which is a medium of instruction in schools. Tribal youth have taken the lead in translating Hindi and Marathi storybooks into Korku as part of this programme and children are excited and happy as they are getting to read stories in their own mother tongue. Sharad Prakash Suryawanshi, Program Manager Unnati ISEC shares the journey of building a Korku digital library.

                      

उन्नती संस्था गेल्या पाच वर्षापसून अकोला जिल्ह्यातील अकोट आणि तेल्हारा या तालुक्यातील कोरकू आदिवासी मुलांना वाचन लेखन यावं, याकरिता काम करीत आहे. कोरकू मुलांना वाचन लेखन यावे, याकरिता संस्था कोरकू भाषेत उपलब्ध नसलेले साहित्य देवनागरी लिपी वापरून विकसित करण्याचे काम करीत आहे, कारण कोरकू भाषेला लिपी नाहीये. त्यात गोष्टींचे पुस्तके, गाणे, वाचनपाठ, शैक्षणिक साहित्य असे निर्मिती करीत आहे.

त्याचच एक भाग म्हणून विविध प्रकाशनाचे गोष्टींचे पुस्तके भाषांतर, रुपांतर करून मुलांना वाचनास उपलब्ध करून देत आहोत. त्यांना त्यांच्या भाषेत पुस्तके मिळाल्याने ते सुद्धा आनंदाने वाचन करतात. हे पाहून खूप समाधान वाटत आहे. हे भाषांतर करण्याचे काम कोरकू आदिवासी युवक-युवती हेच करतात. त्याची प्रक्रिया ही पुढील प्रमाणे सांगता येईल.

टप्पा पहिला - पुस्तकांची निवड : उपलब्ध पुस्तकांपैकी पुस्तकात ग्रामीण भागाचे चित्र, मजकूर, आशय पाहतो. तसेच स्त्री-पुरुष समानता दर्शवणारे, मुलांच्या भावविश्वाला स्पर्श करणारी. अशा पुत्कांची निवड पूर्ण कार्यकर्ते करतात. 

टप्पा दुसरा - भाषांतर : निवडलेले पुस्तकाची प्रिंट काढली जाते, मग तीन कार्यकर्ते एकत्र बसतात, चर्चा करतात, आणि गोष्टीचे भाषांतर  सुरु होते. त्यांना काही शब्द समजत नाही, त्याचा अर्थ समजत नाही, त्यासाठी मग समन्वयकासोबत, शब्दकोश मध्ये पाहून चर्चा केली जाते. त्यानंतर जी गोष्ट भाषांतर केली, त्याची प्रिंट काढली जाते. आणि परत अजून भाषांतर बरोबर झाले का हे पहिले जाते, त्यावर चर्चा करून बदल केले जातात.  

टप्पा तिसरा - रुपांतर : जे पुस्तक भाषांतर केले, ते कार्यकर्ते घरी घेऊन जातात, आणि घरातील वरिष्ठांना, समुदायात लोकांना वाचून दाखवतात, त्यावर त्यांचे मत विचारात घेऊन, नोंद केली जाते. तसेच गावात ज्यांना लिहिता वाचता येतं, त्यांना मराठी आणि कोरकू भाषेतील पुस्तकांच्या प्रिंट वाचण्यास दिल्या जातात, त्यावरून त्यांच्या काही सूचना आल्या तर, त्या नोंदवून घेतल्या जातात. ही प्रक्रिया झाल्यावर, कार्यलयात दुसऱ्या दिवशी तिन्ही कार्यकर्ते परत बसतात, दोन्ही नोंदी पाहून चर्चा करतात, आणि तसे बदल करतो. 

टप्पा चौथा – पुस्तकात सर्व चर्चा करून संकलन केले जाते. त्याच्या मराठी, हिंदी आणि कोरकू भाषेतील पुस्तकाच्या रंगीत प्रिंट काढून किंवा दुकानातून पुस्तक विकत घेऊन, काही पुस्तके मिळत नाहीत, मिळाले तरी पाहिजे तेवढ्या प्रतींमध्ये मिळत नाही. हे पुस्तके मग शिकू आनंदे वर्गातील मुलांना, गावातील मुलांना उन्नती पुस्तक पेटी प्रकल्पांतर्गत वाचनासाठी, गोष्ट सांगण्यासाठी उपलब्ध करून दिले जाते.  

काम करीत असतांनाच्या येणाऱ्या अडचणी:

पुस्तक निवड करण्यात अडचण येते, कारण कोरकू भागातील घटक पुस्तकात असत नाहीत.

काही शब्दांचे अर्थ लवकर समजत नाही, सापडत नाही.

गावात लोकांना विचारून नोंद घेतांना बऱ्याच वेळेस दिवसा लोक उपलब्ध होतात, असे नाही. त्यामुळे रात्री उशिरा पर्यंत किंवा सकाळी एकदम लवकर त्यांच्या वेळा पाहून काम करावे लागते.

गावात शिकलेले लोक त्यात महिला यांचे प्रमाण फार थोड्या प्रमाणात आहे, त्यामुळे रुपांतर करायला मर्यादा येतात. 

तसेच कार्यकर्ते नियमित राहत नाही.

त्यांना भाषांतर, रुपांतर याचे प्रशिक्षण देऊन लगेचच समजत नाही, म्हणून काही दिवस त्यांची समज बनण्यात जातात.

कोरकू भाषा ही दर १० किलो. अंतरावर थोडी बदलते, त्यामुळे एकूण क्षेत्राचा विचार करून रुपांतर करावे लागते. 

कार्यालय हे गावात असल्याने बऱ्याच वेळेस लाईटची अडचण येते.

संगणक कमी असल्याने त्या ठिकाणी मर्यादा येतात.

कार्यकर्त्यांना तांत्रिक माहिती जास्त नसल्याने अडचणी येतात. 

स्तर एकचे एक पुस्तक रुपांतर करायला किमान एक पूर्ण दिवस लागतो. स्तर नुसार कालावधी वाढू शकतो. आणि मनुष्यबळ, तीन कार्यालयातील कार्यकर्ते, आणि गावातील किमान पाच लोक. 

भाषांतर, रुपांतर करणारे युवक युवती :

१. राजकन्या शांतीलाल गवते,  गाव: धोंडा आखर,  तहसील: तेल्हारा,  जि. अकोला, राज्य: महाराष्ट्र 

२.  माया श्रीराम मावस्कर,  गाव: भिली,  तहसील: तेल्हारा,  जि. अकोला,  राज्य:  महाराष्ट्र 

३.  ब्रिजलाल मोतीराम मावस्कर , गाव:  भिली,  तहसील: तेल्हारा, जि. अकोला,  राज्य: महाराष्ट्र 

४.  सुभाष चांदुजी केदार,  गाव: चंदनपुर, तहसील: तेल्हारा, जि. अकोला, राज्य: महाराष्ट्र   

Here's a little  glimpse of the stories Unnati ISEC has translated into Korku on StoryWeaver. Do take a look at all their stories here. 

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Writer, translator, editor and poet Agnes N.S. Nyendwa has always been best friends with books — right from her days as a warehouse clerk where she read up all the books in stock to her rise to an editor with publishing houses. Along the way, she was always passionate about her mother tongue Chinyanja, a language belonging to the Bantu language system of Africa and spoken widely across Malawi, Zambia and the Mozambique. Agnes is translating books on the StoryWeaver platform to her mother tongue and tells us in an email interview on why children need to read more stories in Chinyanja in her country and how she plans to make sure that more of them have access to these books.

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

I am a writer, translator, editor, poet (English and Chinyanja), president of the Zambia Women Writers Association and Vice chairman of the National Arts Council, and have been in publishing circles since 1994. I started off as a Warehousing clerk being the first employee to have been engaged in that position at Macmillan Publishers Zambia Limited. I studied Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and emerged as best student in the field. In my job as a warehouse clerk, I became friends with a bunch of books which I took time to read and enjoy. I cultivated the culture of reading each and every book that was in the warehouse. I later knew each book by its content and what to present if anyone wanted to buy any book in any field. I made it a point after that to read any new title as it came.

Due to the immense interest that I had in books, I was promoted to be Assistant Editor when the Zambia curriculum transitioned into a new one. My first assignment was to handle local languages because the whole project was a challenge. I managed to have the project take off and in the process I was seconded for an in-house training at Oxford Macmillan Education in the UK, which later catapulted me to be an Editor of the organisation back home. 

What is your personal relationship to Chinyanja and to translation?

Apart from learning the language at school, Chinyanja/Chichewa is actually my mother’s language. As it is truly my mother’s tongue – my parents (my mother being a teacher by profession) made sure we honed the skill of speaking and writing it. They would not allow us to mix any other language when speaking with them, let alone writing to them. We were encouraged to read Chinyanja/Chichewa books, which I certainly do even now. This made us know the language without measure. Our home was our training ground for the local language where neighbours would be amazed at how we spoke it even when we grew up in a low density area where only people with high education lived. Friends would laugh at our tongue because sometimes they would request us to interpret the words we spoke. 

Later in life I still had a challenge convincing my husband that the words I spoke were actual Chinyanja/Chichewa. He thought that as a family we had developed a language that we alone would understand not until I bought a dictionary from a bookstore in Malawi. He took time to refer to it on every word that he thought was specific to my family. He was amazed to have found the very words in the dictionary. 

That is the power of teaching a child her mother tongue. It is easy for me to understand other languages because I can relate them to my own. I now thank my parents for imparting that priceless skill to me. I look at myself as one of those who is open to learning and embraces criticisms when it comes to the local languages. I have written and translated a number of books that are currently being read in schools.

You have been translating STEM stories. Describe the process to us. Would this process be different for a joyful picture book?

The process is not easy when you are just starting as a translator of STEM books. The process is quite challenging because of the absence of indigenous terminologies for certain concepts and words in general. STEM books have a lot of these non-indigenous terms. But by using the meaning approach and transliteration, the challenge is quite eased. I actually enjoy translating them because I get to understand and impart the terms in a way that are simple to grasp. 

I don’t find picture books to be any different from other story books because each book presents its own challenges, some may be grammatical or orthographical but rising to the challenge is what makes translating any book unique and adventurous. 

How do you plan to take the Chinyanja stories to the children?

In our society, doing a venture totally free can be quite challenging because the conveyor of the message needs finances to operate. I would love to have every child who is stationed in a Chinyanja belt to get hold of these wonderful stories. It is a fact that a bigger chunk of my country cannot access internet which can be a transmission port for these books. I need them printed in hard copies so that they are distributed for children to have and read wherever they are, with friends and family. 

My plan is to raise funds that can allow me to print and probably sell at a nominal price and for them to be spread where their relevance is. If I can find funds that can allow me to print and transport the books, I don’t think there will be any need to sell them but to distribute them to libraries and have them approved for use in schools. For those who are able to browse on the internet, sending the link to people I know and other official arts and educational platforms is helping to spread the books. I have actually started sending the link and people are reading them. 

What do you usually read? Which language do you prefer to read in? 

Yes I do read quite a lot. A good story is what prompts my language of preference.  I do read in Chinyanja and English as well as other Zambian languages that I have quite a considerable amount of knowledge.

A glimpse of the stories Agnes is translating to Chinyanja on StoryWeaver. You can read these stories here.

Thank you Agnes! May your tribe increase!

Write in to us at [email protected] if you want us to add your native language.

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